Gray has been very busy the past few months with many activities!

He began Physical Therapy as well as Occupational Therapy again in March. We have another great PT, Carla Scott. His progress with his wheelchair is phenomenal! He manipulates the chair forward, backward, faster, slower, etc. Mostly, he practices outside but we recently built a shed with a ramp and he loves going up the ramp into the shed. That way, he’ll be able to find his dad working away on some project!

Gray has been enjoying the warmer weather so he can do more swimming. We started swim lessons again and we’ll go to the pool whenever possible. He has lots of toys to keep him busy on other days! He still enjoys Kipper, and Scooby Doo comes in a close second.

We made a spring trip to the mountains where we enjoyed fishing, hiking and a picnic. We were also able to make several trips to the beach which Gray loves! He digs in the sand and sits in the ocean. It’s like one giant sandbox for him!
Also, this summer we will continue Kindermusik and storytime. We have some more beach trips planned and another trip to the mountains so we are looking forward to those!

Another big trip we are taking is to Chicago the weekend of June 22nd for the annual Families of SMA Conference. Mike’s dad and stepmother will attend and we will be able to visit Aunt Suzy, Mike’s sister who lives in Chicago. We are really looking forward to the conference to provide us with additional knowledge about SMA and to find out about the latest research in finding a cure for SMA.

A big thanks to Amy Bertram who organized a Fitness Fundraiser in early June that raised $3000 for Gray’s Gang! The three fitness experts that lead the group were Allison Lilly (HIP HOP dance aerobics), Roy Lewis (Boot Camp class), and Terri Reeves (kick boxing). A very gracious thank you to all the above and to all others who participated! ………The Charlotte Hornets even kicked in $1000!!!!

As always, we are very thankful and blessed to have the constant support of our family and friends.

We had many visitors this summer, both friends and family. Gray was able to spend time with Great Aunts Katie and Rosy from Pennsylvania. Mike’s cousin Sean from Kentucky came through Charlotte for a night with his family and his cousin Ilsa from Washington DC with cousin Heidi from Charlotte were able to visit for an evening. Aunt Rosie came back through in August with Uncle Joe. Abbie’s friend Shannon and her son Walker from Burlington came to town for a visit as well as Lisa Draddy and her son Max from DC. Gray enjoyed verybody’s company and loved being the center of attention!

For vacations, we escaped the Charlotte heat and headed to the mountains with the Reese’s for a weekend at Highlands, NC. Gray enjoyed fishing with his dad and looking at the scenic waterfalls. We also made it to the beach for a few weekends. Gray really loves to go to the beach, play in the sand, go out on the boat and look for fish and sharks. We were able to go to the kiddie amusement park and ride the rides. That was a big highlight! He was the most excited child there!

In August, we received a cough machine for Gray. This assists him with coughing. We were extremely pleased to have it for the cold and flu season this winter.

The Dougherty’s are now the proud owners of a minivan! It was recently converted to include a Superarm Lift to get Gray in and out of the van in his wheelchair. He really thinks it is the coolest! Our first outing was the mall. Gray loved being out on the town and in control!

We have also built a ramp in Gray’s playroom to give him access to the rest of the house in his wheelchair. He is now mastering the art of maneuvering around the house.

Gray celebrated his 3rd birthday at the Charlotte Trolley Station. He had 21 friends join him for a fun-filled party! The next day, we were lucky enough to see “Thomas the Train” in Spencer, NC. What an awesome birthday weekend! We celebrated more later in the week at a family celebration with his grandparents and aunts and uncle. The gifts he received should keep him busy for a while!

Marilyn Dougherty organized a fundraiser at Learning Express in Charlotte, NC on Tuesday, November 13th. The store donated 20% of all items purchased by Gray’s Gang Shoppers to Andrew’s Buddies. We raised $377.00! We were their biggest fundraiser ever.

We think we finally have a preschool for Gray to start in January. It seems to be a perfect fit. The school is also where we go to church! He will be with the 3 year olds and we will try to integrate his wheel chair into the class whenever possible. Gray is extremely excited and asks every morning “Am I going to preschool today?”

The Third Annual SMAshing Kickoff was once again, a success and sooo much fun! This year, thanks to Maria Stone, we were able to secure some big-ticket items for the raffle drawing early on! Over 4000 raffle tickets were sold! We would like to once again thank Anthony Reese who sold over 2300 himself! The semi-silent auction raised $2,445 and the total amount raised at the event was $13,000! Thanks to all of those who participated, either by selling tickets, helping to organize the event, donating your time, items or money. You have our sincere thanks and gratitude. Thank you, thank you, thank you! We are indebted to Maria for all her efforts.

We are so thankful and definitely very lucky to have such good friends and family to make our lives so much easier and help us fight Gray’s disease.